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Legend of the Longbow
"Legend of the Longbow" was a story printed in issue 1345 of Commando and subsequently reprinted in issue 4431, by the request of its readers. It was written by Mary Feldwick and drawn by Ibanez, with a cover by Ian Kennedy. Plot The story is set in World War II. A spitfire pilot, Flight Lieutenant Tim Rollins, is one of the older members of his squadron and suspects that the leader Mike Johnson thinks he is too old for his job. Determined to prove his worth, Tim develops a headstrong attitude which puts him into conflict with his fellow pilots. Eventually, Tim mishears a conversation and wrongly concludes that Johnson is planning to pension him off. Deciding to make one final attempt to prove himself he takes a battered plan to France, parachuting to safety as the aircraft crashes. He teams up with the local resistance and hatches a plan: as he had been a keen archer before the war, he builds longbows for the resistance men. Initially skeptical, the French rebels begin making food use of bows and arrows in their struggle against the Nazi occupation. The German officials begin to hear strange rumours of longbow-wielding French assassins led by an Englishman nicknamed Robin Hood. Meanwhile Gerard, a member of the French resistance, feels that he would make a better leader than Tim; as a result the group splits into two factions. Taking the Robin Hood connection a step further, Tim's group begins stealing supplies from the Germans and distributing them to French villagers. However, a shady resistance member named Pierre forces the Frenchmen to buy the goods for black market prices - and warns them that they'll be in trouble with the Nazis if they object to this. Tim is unaware of Pierre's activities, but the news reaches Gerard who decides to meet up with Tim and reveal all. When Pierre learns that his secret is out he confesses to the Germans. Working from information given by Pierre, the Nazis track down the resistance men and capture them. The Nazis tie Gerard to a post with a target above his head and hold an archery contest: an SS officer, Schumann, against Tim in full view of the French villagers; they hope that Tim will lose and thereby damage the morale of the Frenchmen. In an attempt to rig the game, a German soldier at the window of a nearby building flashes a mirror to try and dazzle Tim. However, he moves to soon and Tim sees him, shooting him with an arrow and causing him to fall from the window. In the confusion Tim manages to escape. Schumann fires an arrow at him, but it hits Pierre instead. When he reaches safety he hatches a plan to rescue Gerard. He hears that one of the men guarding him is disloyal to the Nazis and so bribes him into letting him communicate with Gerard, and they work out a solution together. At night Tim fires an arrow with a rope attached at the window of Gerard's cell, allowing him to escape. However, it turns out that the Nazis had this planned, and ordered the guard to accept Tim's bribe. Schumann pursues Tim and Gerard and a fight breaks out. Eventually a stranger arrives on the scene and drives Schumann away with gunfire: the man turns out to be a British captain, sent from London after the rumours of a mysterious archer reached home and intelligence realised that Tim was responsible. In a final effort to improve French morale, Tim tracks down Schumann and kills him. He then decides to return to Britain, thereby nsuring that the Nazis will not end the legend of Robin Hood. Category:Commando stories